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H. MORTON.

KEEPER FOR KNOB LATGHES.

No; 333,022. Patented Dec. 22, 1885.

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NITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

HENRY MORTON, OF BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE BRAN- FORD LOCKWORKS, OF SAME PLACE.

KEEPER FOR KNOB-LATCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,022, dated December22, 1885.

Application filed October 5, 1885. Serial No. 178,969. (N 0 model.)

To all whom, it may concern.

Be it known that I, HENRY MORTON, of Branford, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inKeepers for Knob-Latches; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification,and represent, in

Figure 1, a face view of the keeper complete; Fig. 2, a horizontalsection through the strike as applied to the jamb, showing the door inthe closing position with the bolt upon the strike; Fig. 3, a rear viewof the strike; Fig. 4, a front edge view of the keeper; Fig. 5, a top orplan view of the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in keepers for knob-latches, inwhich the latchbolt is adapted to be drawn into the case by the means ofknobs or other suitable handle and thrown out by a spring. It isdesirable that the spring should be stiff, in order to give properresistance to the knob or thumb-piece; but, it being so stiff, rendersthe door difficult to close without mechanically withdrawing thelatch-bolt.

Several devices have been arranged to relieve the latch-bolt, and arecommonly known as anti-friction latches.

The object of this invention is to construct a keeper that can be usedwith an ordinary knob-latch, practically making it an anti-frictionlatch; and it consists in extending the latch-bolt opening through theside of the plate, and the plate constructed with an ear above and belowsaid opening, combinedwith a strike hung between said ear, the saidstrike adapted to swing backward from the plane of the plate, andprovided with a stop to arrest and support the strike in its out ornormal position, and a spring to return and hold it in its said normalposition, as hereinafter described.

A represents the plate of the keeper; (1, the opening for thelatch-bolt,and extends through the side of the plate.

I) I) represent ears, one above and the other below said opening a.Between the ears I) b the strike Bis pivoted at d, and adapted to swingin said opening backward from the plane of the plate, as shown in brokenlines, Fig. 2, and constructed with a stop, 6, to prevent it swingingoutward beyond the face of 5 the plate.

0 is a spring around the pivot d, adapted to hold the strike in itsnormal or out position, but to yield to allow the latch-bolts to passinto the keeper.

D represents the jamb of a door, E the door, and F the latch-bolt. Inclosing the door the latch-bolt F strikes the strike B, forcing itinward, as shown in broken lines, Fig. 2, until the latch-bolt haspassed in beyond the strike. Then the strike, under the action of itsspring, will return to its former position behind the latch-bolt,securely holding it in place, and so that the bolts must be withdrawn inthe usual manner to escape the keeper.

It will readily be seen that with this device the latch-spring may bevery stiff withoutincreasing the friction on the keeper.

The strike-spring may be so light as to offer very little resistance tothe bolt in closing the door.

The stops 0 may be omitted and the ends of the ears b I) connected by abar, f, as shown in Fig. 3, and the edge of the strike adapted to stopagainst said bar.

I am aware that a keeper has been constructed with the strike hungtherein to yield for the entrance of the latchbolt and to catch thelatch-bolt when so entered, and do not, therefore, broadly claim such akeeper, such 85 a construction not being adapted to mortiselatches, forwhich this invention is specially designed.

I claim- The herein-described keeper for latches, 0 consisting of theplate A, constructed with the latch-opening at extending through itsside, and with ears I) 1) extending outward above and below saidopening, combined with the strike 13, hung between the ears I) 1) uponpiv- 5 ots outside the latch-opening, and adapted to swing therein,provided with a stop to support and a spring to yieldingly hold thestrike in its normal position, substantially as described.

HENRY MORTON.

Witnesses:

HENRY D. LINSLEY, HENRY H. STEDMAN.

